With Arsenal without a win in the Premier League in four matches, Mikel Arteta is keen to get his side’s title hopes back on track this weekend.
The Gunners welcome a high-flying Nottingham Forest to Emirates Stadium on Saturday, with Nuno Espirito-Santo’s side going into the fixture with the same number of points as the home side. “They’ve been really good, really consistent and top against the best opposition especially,” Arteta said on Friday.
“Big credit to Nuno and the coaching staff for what they’re doing. Their intentions are very clear, how they manage to take the games where they want. Really impressed to be fair with what they’ve done.”
If Arsenal are to come away from Emirates Stadium with all three points on Saturday, they will have to do so without Ben White. The right-back underwent a “minor surgical procedure” on a knee issue during the break and will be sidedlined for a few months.
“It’s not been improving in the last few weeks unfortunately,” Arteta explained. “We know that Ben is going to push every boundary but it got to a point a where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery. He agreed with that and unfortunately that’s going to keep him out for a few months.”
There had also been doubts over Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice, who did not feature for England during the international break. Both trained on Friday, however, and are expected to be in the squad on Saturday. The same can be said for Leandro Trossard, who appears to have recovered from a knock picked up while away with Belgium.
“Trossard seems to be OK. He trained this morning and he seems to be feeling good. We will assess everything with the doctor right now. But that’s good. Bukayo and Declan as well, they had the first partial session today. So, very good as well.”
Arteta also confirmed that Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori has recovered from a knee injury which has seen him miss the Gunners’ past five matches. “Riccy trained today. His rehab has gone really well,” Arteta said. “He was able to do certain things last week with the physios. He trained on the pitch this week, he trained with us today as well. He will be in the squad.”
The game comes too soon for Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu, though. Tierney has resumed training this week but is “not ready yet”, while Tomiyasu is “going to be away now for a few weeks to continue with his treatment”.
So, looking at the official Arsenal website, the Gunners have 20 fit and eligible senior players available for selection for the game vs Nottingham Forest. As per Premier League rules, a club is allowed to name a squad of 20 players for a Premier League match which means Arteta has a problem he has not had to deal with for a while – some players will need to be left out.
While Ethan Nwaneri is set to be included in the squad on Saturday, Myles Lewis-Skelly may drop out with the likes of Calafiori and Jurrien Timber now back fit. Academy stars such as Josh Nichols and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji have been named in matchday squads this season, but they will not be needed this weekend.
Possible Arsenal squad for Nottingham Forest: Raya, Neto; Timber, Gabriel, Saliba, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Calafiori; Partey, Rice, Merino, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Odegaard; Trossard, Sterling, Jesus, Havertz, Martinelli, Saka.
Senior players unavailable for Nottingham Forest: White (k
